ORR_01022014

Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON
Republican Reporter
January 2, 2014 Volume 164, Number 3 - $1.00
Dixon Tourney
A New Year
Altered Records
The Lady Hawks finished seventh at Dixon by
playing 2-2 basketball last week. B1
2013 has come and goneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;have a
Happy New Year!
Some Ogle County credit card statements
were altered. A7
Park district
waiting for
study results
Archaeological
survey is part of
IDNR rules
By Vinde Wells
Editor
Oregon
Park
District
officials are awaiting the
results of an archaeological
survey before making any
definite plans for newly
acquired property along the
Rock River near Daysville.
Executive Director Erin
Folk said Monday that
the survey is part of the
requirements set by the
Illinois
Department
of
Natural Resource (IDNR).
The survey results, she
said, will determine exactly
what can be done on the
10 wooded acres recently
donated to the park district by
Craig and Bette Williams.
The transaction was official
on Nov. 25.
The area will be kept as
natural as possible, Folk said,
to preserve the native plants,
trees, and wildlife in the area.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hoping to preserve
the land and make it a natural
space rather than a developed
park,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very
fortunate to have this piece
of property. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have
anything like it.â&#x20AC;?
Preliminary plans calls for
walking trails, a fishing pier,
and possibly a canoe launch.
The gift was an answer
to the park districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s search
for just the right piece of
property.
Park
district
officials
learned sometime ago that
they were required by the
IDNR to replace the 6.3
acres on 10th Street that they
sold several years ago to the
Rock River Center because
that property was originally
purchased by the City of
Oregon using an Open
Space Land Acquisition and
Development
(OSLAD)
grant from the IDNR.
The park district sold the
property to the Rock River
Center for $1 in 2007.
The land must be replaced
with property of equal or
greater value, Folk said, and
the property near Daysville
will fulfill that requirement.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had been looking
for property and when this
became available it was an
opportunity we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pass
up,â&#x20AC;? Folk said.
The property will be called
Jackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landing, in keeping
with the wishes of the
Williamses, she said.
Two fires in Oregon
cause little damage
By Vinde Wells
Editor
Bald Eagle Watching
The Ill. 64 bridge over the Rock River in Oregon was a popular location Saturday to view bald eagles. Above
top, a mature bald eagle flies off a perch in a tree near the bridge. Above left, an immature bald eagle soars
over the bridge. Above right, a group of bird watchers have cameras and binoculars at the ready. Photos by
Chris Johnson
Oregon School District employees
to pay less for insurance premiums
By Vinde Wells
Editor
Unlike most private and
public employers, the Oregon
School District will pay
less for employee health
insurance premiums in the
coming year.
The Oregon School Board
approved a plan with Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Dec. 16 that means the overall
cost to the district will be 1.4
percent less than last year.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;That doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen very
often,â&#x20AC;? said Superintendent
Tom Mahoney. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was very
pleased we were able to do
this.â&#x20AC;?
He said the decrease was
accomplished through a
competitive bidding process
with Blue Cross Blue Shield
and another company.
The district shares the cost
of insurance with employees.
In some cases, employees
will also see a decrease in
their premiums, while others
will have a modest increase.
The districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portion of the
health insurance cost will be
$1.1 million under the new
plan.
For Oregon Education
Association (OEA) members,
the district pays 88 percent
of the premium cost for an
eligible employee, 84 percent
for the employee and spouse,
84 percent for the employee
and children, and 77 percent
for family coverage.
For Oregon Education
Support
Personnel
Association
(OESPA)
members, the district pays
In This Weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Edition...
92.5 percent of the premium
cost for an eligible employee,
60 percent for the employee
and spouse, 60 percent for
the employee and children,
and 60 percent for family
coverage.
In another matter, the board
approved spending $671,560
for additional Health & Life
Safety work to the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
building.
Mahoney said the amount
is within the $7.5 million
approved Oct. 21 for Health
& Life Safety projects.
The additional projects
include
more
security
cameras at various school
entrances, repairs to the doors
of the band room at Oregon
High School, additional
electrical outlets and upgrades
to transformers at OHS and
Church News, A5
Classifieds, B5-B8
Entertainment, A6
Library News, A3
Two fires in Oregon early
this week resulted in no major
damage to structures.
Oregon Fire Chief Don
Heller said a skid loader
caught on fire Sunday
morning in a building at
Blackhawk Lumber, 800 E.
Washington St. (Ill. 64) and
a conveyor belt caused a fire
Monday morning at Unimin
Corporation, 1446 W. Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Backbone Rd.
No one was injured in
either fire, Heller said.
The cause of the skid
loader fire has not yet been
determined. The business has
been closed for sometime.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one was around. It
may have been a mechanical
malfunction in a block
heater,â&#x20AC;? Heller said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
under investigation.â&#x20AC;?
The skid loader was
destroyed, but the building
Oregon Elementary School,
removing and replacing
existing phone cables, and
adding air-conditioning in six
server rooms.
The majority of the Health
& Life Safety work â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an
estimated $7.1 million â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
will be for the new heating
and cooling system.
In October, the board hired
Chevron Energy Solutions,
Chicago, to oversee the
projects, which will include
installing
geothermal
By Chris Johnson
systems to heat and cool
Reporter
Oregon High School and
Oregon Elementary School,
A house in the 100 block
improving security at all
the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buildings and of North Sixth street, owned
by the Oregon Public Library
repairing a water main.
Estimates
show
that District, was demolished in
mid December.
Turn to A2
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The house had some
Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Police, B3
Public Voice, B2
Property Transfers, B4
housing it was not damaged.
The fire was reported
around 9 a.m.
Stillman
Valley
Fire
Department was called for
mutual aid. Firefighters
remained on the scene for
approximately an hour.
A conveyor belt used to
move sand got stuck and
caught on fire at Unimin
around 8:30 a.m. Monday,
Heller said.
The only damage was to
the belt, he said.
Mt.
Morris,
Byron,
and Franklin Grove Fire
Departments assisted at the
scene.
Heller said several more
departments were called for
mutual aid, but were turned
back before they arrived.
Firefighters
quickly
extinguished the fire, Heller
said, and remained on the
scene for and hour and 15
minutes.
Oregon Library District
demolishes home on N.6th
Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4
Sports, B1
Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Attorney, B4
damage including water
damage,â&#x20AC;? said board president
Scott Stephens. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We decided
it made better financial sense
to demolish the structure.â&#x20AC;?
Stephens said the costs
to repair the property were
cost prohibitive for a rental
Turn to A2
Deaths, B2
John D. Basler, Danny Beck,
Helen M. Erdmier, Dorothy M. Hartje,
John R. Heckman, Theodore R. Norris,
Joan R. Strauss
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